Thursday, April 26, 2012
The Orland School District 135 board president announced Wednesday that he will campaign for the position in the 2013 election to “right this ship.”
John Carmody, who now serves as school board president for Orland School District 135, announced his intention Wednesday night to run for mayor of Orland Park in 2013. “I’m among a group of concerned citizens who are interested in getting a handle on the direction this village is going and right this ship,” he said. The first issue on Carmody’s mind is the Ninety 7 Fifty on the Park project, now being built within the Main Street Triangle area, and the $60-$63 million it will take to fund the effort. “What’s the break even point?” Carmody said. “What does that entity have to make to make the whole thing work? I’m absolutely concerned. Running for mayor is to step forward and get this situation straight so taxpayers aren’t burdened by a $63…
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Don Peloquin may have taken in more votes in the suburbs during last week’s primary election, but that number didn’t come close to what Bobby Rush pulled within Chicago city limits.
The 1st Congressional District covers an almost comically diverse landscape. Starting on the north end at 26th Street and Michigan Avenue, down Martin Luther King Drive to the Dan Ryan at the Skyway and further south, including neighborhoods just east and west of the highway. But the new district then continues down I-57, stretching past Harlem Avenue to LaGrange Road, continuing south and west to Highway 53, all the way to the 2,300-population town of Elwood. All residents in this area will have their interests represented in Congress by either Democrat Incumbent 1st District Rep. Bobby Rush or Republican Blue Island Mayor Don Peloquin. Rush handily won far more votes in Chicago alone with 55,196 votes to Peloquin’s 599 as of Tuesday. But…
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Michael Hastings outpolled Greg Hannon just about everywhere in Tuesday's Democratic primary, including Hannon's home base in Tinley Park, where he serves on the village Board of Trustees.
Tinley Park Trustee Greg Hannon lost Tuesday’s state Senate primary to Michael Hastings in part because his 24 years of service as a village trustee simply didn’t translate into big numbers on Election Day in the village or anywhere. Hastings, 32, son of Orland Hills Mayor Kyle Hastings, easily defeated Hannon, 59, by a ratio of about 3-1 in the 19th Senate District Democratic primary. The district includes portions of Tinley Park, Orland Park, Orland Hills, Oak Forest, Frankfort, Mokena and New Lenox. They were running to replace state Sen. Maggie Crotty, a Democrat who retired. There is no Republican candidate, as yet. Hastings swamped Hannon across the board including the trustee’s home base of Tinley Park. Hannon won only a handful of …
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Barbara Bellar beat out Ricardo Fernandez in Tuesday’s primary for the Republican slot in the race for the 18th State Senate District.
Barbara Bellar will be campaigning against Bill Cunningham for the second time in two years for a seat in the Illinois General Assembly. Bellar will be seeking the 18th State Senate District seat as a Republican against Cunningham, a Democrat who now serves as the 35th State House District Representative. Bellar won Tuesday’s primary with 9,757 votes, compared to opponent Ricardo Fernandez with 3,401 votes, or 74 percent. Bellar commended Fernandez for “his efforts to make things better in Illinois.” She described their interactions as “friendly all the way through.” Moving forward on to the next race, Bellar said she’ll be focusing on issues people expressed concerns to her about while she was campaigning before the primary. “We need jobs…
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
By 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Democratic candidate Fran Hurley was leading with 51 percent of the vote. She will face Republican Steven Williams in November.
Fran Hurley, one of three Democrats vying to face a GOP opponent for in the 35th Illinois House District race, coasted to an easy win during Tuesday's primary. She will face Republican Steven Williams, who ran unopposed. Williams was unavailable for comment Tuesday night. Hurley won the race with 6,739 votes, against Andrew Martin's 3,992 votes and Andrew Byrne Hodorowicz with 1,862 votes, or about 53 percent. "I'm just humbled and overwhelmed," Hurley told Patch at her campaign party after her victory speech. "I'm grateful for the support." About a hundred supporters attended Hurley's party at 115 Bourbon Street, at 3359 W 115th St, in Merrionette Park. Surrounded by red balloons and those cheering supporters, Hurley declared, "I will …
Hometown materials-supervisor faces Congressman Dan Lipinski in 3rd Congressional race in November.
Materials-supervisor Rich Grabowski handily won the Republican nomination in the Illinois 3rd Congressional District. Grabowski, a constitutional conservative, faces Democratic Congressman Dan Lipinski in November. The Hometown man beat Western Springs-attorney Jim Falvey in a 2-to-1 landslide. Perennial fringe candidate and Holocaust denier Arthur J. Jones of Lyons came in a distant third. Grabowski won 59 percent of the vote with 20,536, followed by Falvey with 29 percent or 10,287, and Jones capturing 10 percent with 3,797. Asked what he was going to do next, Grabowski answered, “sleep.” “I haven’t done that for awhile,” he continued. “Tomorrow I will start work at 6:30 a.m.” Grabowski won endorsements from Orland, Worth and Palos …
After falling short in April of last year, it appears the Palos Fire Protection District will get the property tax increase it was looking for.
Voters in the Palos Fire Protection District narrowly passed a referendum Tuesday night that will increase the district's taxing rate and bring in additional revenue for the financially struggling department. In a nail biter, unofficial results put the count at 1,886 yes votes, and 1,814 no, according to the Cook County Clerk's Office. That is a difference of less than 2 percent The district has been operating with a budget deficit of about $350,000 and operates from one of its two stations on most days. Cuts in staffing, aging equipment and a lack of any reserve funds were all offered as reasons why a tax increase was necessary. Passage of the tax hike means the rate for the district will increase from .557 to .807. In real terms, that …
The longtime Republican Blue Island mayor will challenge the nearly-just-as-longtime Democrat congressman for one of the most disparate congressional districts in Illinois.
Bobby Rush and Don Peloquin will be the two choices for the broad array of Illinois residents living among the new 1st Congressional District. The two will be vying for a territory that stretches from the inner-city through blue-collar suburbs out to the conservative suburbs and into rural Will County. The district starts just north of Chicago's Bronzeville community and extends out to Beverly and into several towns west of I-57, such as Evergreen Park, Oak Lawn, Palos Heights, Alsip, Blue Island, Oak Forest, Midlothian and through Tinley Park, Orland Park, Orland Hills, Mokena, New Lenox, Frankfort and several other towns before hitting a rural southwest boundary in Elwood. Peloquin, 61, has served as Blue Island mayor since 1985 after …
The Orland Fire Protection District board president was not immediately available for comment.
UPDATE: Bill Foster has declared victory in this race, and Juan Thomas, his closest competitor, said he will call to concede. Foster's victory speech at Village Links in Glen Ellyn took aim at Rep. Judy Biggert's voting record, and concerned the campaign he plans to wage against her. Full story coming soon. The new 11th Congressional District has no incumbent. It includes the major cities of Aurora, Naperville and Joliet, and spans from Aurora in the west to Burr Ridge in the east, and as far south as Channahon. Three Democrats are vying for the nomination: former 14th District Congressman Bill Foster, Orland Fire Protection District President Jim Hickey, and attorney Juan Thomas. The winner will face 13th District Rep. Judy Biggert in …
Greg Hannon called Michael Hastings around 8:45 p.m. Tuesday to concede in the race for Illinois State Senate.
More than three-fourths of democratic voters who showed up at the ballot box Tuesday opted to send 19th State Senate district candidate Michael Hastings to November's general election. The 32-year-old Orland Hills resident was facing off against fellow Democrat Greg Hannon, 57, who's a 24-year Village of Tinley Park trustee. Hannon called Hastings from his election party around 8:45 p.m. to concede and offer his congratulations. Unofficial election results showed Hastings netting about 76 percent of the 13,583 votes that were cast. Looking for the turnouts to other races? Check out our election results. "I just want to thank everybody from the bottom of my heart for all the hard work and the effort they put in," Hannon said at his …
frank
1:36 am on Sunday, April 29, 2012
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